One of the most hyped elements of the whole Red Bull Music Academy was Flying Lotus’s serious head nod event. Pulling together the cream of his local legends from the LA scene such as Daedelus, Gaslamp Killer and Nosaj Thing whilst he called in the crew from further afield such as Dimlite, Martyn, Kode9 and the enigmatic Dorian Concept. Flying Lotus presided over the evening of futuristic beats and wonked out weird sounds. The anticipation was worth arriving early alone.
All the characters performing at Brainfeeder are linked by a common bond borne from shattering conventions. Most were loosely grounded in the attitude and form of hip hop yet their twisted take on this genre is a serious eye opener in smashing up structures and replacing it in their own image. Very few gigs have ever felt this untethered from rules.
The first act we caught was the kinetic Parisian Dimlite whose lively presence shadowed his incredible music that snapped between indulgent passages of collaged bass seemingly lacking progression before switching into groaning and lurching beats drunk with their own space. With structures spurned in favour of music, Dimlite’s music is about as fresh as it gets. We welcome his future with bright hopes.
Next up we had the frenetic Gaslamp Killer who must win the award for the most dynamic DJ set without actually touching the decks or his laptop. Welcome to the world of Ableton. Imagine an extreme biker version of Sideshow Bob physically playing out every break and nuance of a DJ mix he’s laboured lovingly over. Imagine head banging dubstep from the seething LA underground. Imagine drill and bass breaks overseen by a man deranged on PCP. This was the Gaslamp Killer.
Daedelus changed the tone immediately with warped electro. Flanking the crowds expectations with increased tempo and flying sideburns of his edwardian haircut. He seemed to spurn the sounds on his new EP on Brainfeeder Records for the dance floor but it contrasted well into the Flying Lotus set.
This marquee set saw the 27 year old unleash his next generation rhythms on the gathered hoards. Deploying soul samples, polyrhythms, extreme low frequencies and all manner of scattered beats – it was clear his manifesto in sound has been honed to a bleeding edge but instilled with the cosmic splendour of his new album Cosmogramma, dedicated to the memory of his recently deceased mother.
It’s an expansive vision of sound and the intricacies within his open structures are both breath taking and bewildering. Some of his tracks are schizophrenic in that they lead multiple paths out from his creation and at any point could take over to dominate his tracks. This tension is captivating and doesnt ever relent throughout his set. In homage to his recent collaboration with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke he dropped the track ‘Idioteque’ from their Kid A as perhaps the evenings most unified moment.
The evening was left to Dorian Concept whilst Kode9 went back to back with Martyn. Clash had to depart at this juncture so the evening was left with a distinct memory of Flying Lotus applauding the crowd in turn baying for more from him. He’s taken his beats to the next level and it seems every pair of ears and eyes went with him. Unleash your best on us. We are ready for more.
